We conducted two studies to examine gender differences in response to Facebook status updates from same and opposite gender friends. Study 1 surveyed 522 undergraduate students (216 females and 306 males), and compared males' and females' responses to two Facebook status updates: one from a same gender friend and one from an opposite gender friend. Females' public replies and private messages to a female friend showed higher levels of emotional support than males' public replies and private messages to a male friend. In contrast, there were no significant gender differences in response to an opposite gender friend. Furthermore, males showed higher levels of emotional support in private messages than in public replies to male friends. Study 2 recruited 484 participants (295 females and 189 males) using CrowdFlower. Approximately half received a Facebook status update from a same gender friend and the other half received it from an opposite gender friend. Females' public replies to a female friend showed significantly high levels of emotional support than males' public replies to a male friend and there was a similar but marginally significant gender difference for private replies to same gender friends. There was no gender difference in response to opposite gender friends. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
We conducted two studies to examine gender differences in in response to Facebook status updates. The first study surveyed 600 undergraduate students (388 females and 207 males), and analysed males’ and females’ responses to Facebook status updates. Females were significantly more likely to post a public reply than males, and female public replies also contained higher levels of emotional support. There were no significant gender differences in private replies to Facebook status updates. Males showed significantly higher levels of emotional support in private messages than in public replies. There was no significant difference in terms of level of emotional support between females’ public replies and private messages. The second study investigated gender differences in response to Facebook status updates from same gender friends compared to opposite gender friends. We surveyed 522 undergraduate students (216 females and 306 males), and analysed males’ and females’ responses to two Facebook status updates: one from a same gender close friend and one from an opposite gender close friend. Females showed higher levels of emotional support than males to a Facebook status update from a same gender friend. In contrast, there were no significant gender differences in response to an opposite gender friend. Males showed higher levels of emotional support in private replies than public replies to same gender friends. There was no difference in level of emotional support between females’ public replies and private messages. The implications of these findings for explanations of gender differences in language use are discussed
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.